This invention relates to detergent compositions exhibiting improved greasy soil removal capabilities. More specifically, the detergent compositions of this invention provide unexpectedly good detergency performance on greasy and oily soils having a marked particulate soil content.
Cationic surfactants have been frequently incorporated into detergent compositions of various types. However, the inclusion of such cationic surfactants is generally for the purpose of providing some adjunct fabric care benefit, and not for the purpose of cleaning. For example, certain cationic surfactants have been included in detergent compositions for the purpose of yielding a germicidal or sanitization benefit to washed surfaces, as is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,742,434, Kopp, issued Apr. 17, 1956; 3,539,520, Cantor et al, issued Nov. 10, 1970; and 3,965,026, Lancz, issued June 22, 1976. Other cationic surfactants, such as ditallowdimethylammonium chloride, have been included in detergent compositions for the purpose of yielding a fabric-softening benefit, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,607,763, Salmon et al, issued Sept. 21, 1971; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,644,203, Lamberti et al, issued Feb. 22, 1972. Such components are also disclosed as being included in detergent compositions for the purpose of controlling static, as well as softening laundered fabrics, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,951,879, Wixon, issued Apr. 20, 1976; and 3,959,157, Inamorato, issued May 25, 1976.
Compositions comprising mixtures of anionic, cationic and nonionic surfactants are also known in the art. Thus, compositions conferring enhanced antistatic character to textiles washed therewith are described in British Pat. No. 873,214 while compositions having enhanced germidical and detergency performance are disclosed in British Pat. No. 641,297.
Surprisingly, it has now been found, however, that built detergent compositions comprising water-soluble or dispersible mixtures of specific anionic, cationic and nonionic surfactants in critical relative amounts provide unexpectedly improved cleaning performance on greasy and oily soils, even where these have a high content of particulate matter. Moreover, this excellent performance is observed at both high and low wash temperatures and over a range of realistic soil types and wash conditions. Furthermore, the enhanced greasy stain removal performance is achieved without detriment to detergency performance on conventional soil and stain types and most surprisingly, without detriment to the soil suspending or fabric whitening characteristics of the compositions.